


My Sweet Little Prince (Please Stop Growing Up)

by softfeathers



Series: SwanMills Christmas [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Little!Henry, Regal Believer, mommy!regina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 05:31:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8785072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softfeathers/pseuds/softfeathers
Summary: Day Six: Henry is excited to open his presents on Christmas morning. Regina has a surprise for Henry, and he has one for her.(Henry is four, Regina loves him. That's really all one needs to know.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's little Henry and Regina, because little!Henry is my weekness. No Emma in this one, just a lot of Regal Believer.

It was Henry’s fourth Christmas, and Regina was determined to make it special. There was a pile of Christmas presents under the tree and one in her room, one that she had been hiding from him for two days.

She debated it for weeks, but those sweet, pleading eyes that her little boy had, well… how could she say no?

It was Christmas morning, the present in her bathroom where she knew Henry wouldn’t be able to see it.

Sure enough, as soon as the clock hit five am (and it would have been earlier, but Henry knew better than to wake her up earlier than that), Henry ran into her room, jumping on the bed.

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!” The boy whispered, giggling. “It’s Chwistmas!”

Regina smiled at him, throwing the covers over her head. She was only pretending, of course; she wouldn’t dare go back to sleep when Henry was so excited to open his presents, especially when she didn’t know how long that would last.

“Get up, Mommy!” He demanded of her, trying to pull the covers off. He was still giggling.

“Oh, my little prince, is it really Christmas?” She asked him.

“Yes!”

“Well, you know what that means, right?” Regina asked, pausing for dramatic effect. “Santa must have come!”

Henry grinned, and grinned, and grinned. “I know! Now come on, Mommy! We gots to open the pwesents!”

“Alright, my sweet boy,” she said, allowing herself to be dragged out of her bed by the small figure. “We have to make hot chocolate first though, don’t we?” She asked.

He nodded seriously. “We do! And then we can open the pwesents?”

“Of course. You can even help me make the hot chocolate.”

Henry grinned as he led her down the stairs and to the kitchen.

Regina, of course, made herself coffee. She just told Henry that it was grown-up hot chocolate, then helped him stir in the marshmallows in his mug. He insisted that she have some as well, which she allowed without hesitation.

She watched as he carefully carried his mug into the living room, where the tree was. She didn’t want to let him carry the steaming hot mug, but knew that she had to let her son do some things on his own – even if she wasn’t quite ready to let him grow up. She wouldn’t hold him back, not ever. Regina Mills had no desire to be like her mother.

“Alright, Henry,” she said once they were both seated on the couch. “Which present do you want to open first?”

Henry shook his head. The boy was under the tree, seemingly looking for something. When he found it, he grinned. “You gotta open yours first, Mommy!”

“You… you got me a present?” She asked. He’d always made her a card ever since he could hold a pen, even if it was just scribbles, but this was in a box. She was sure he’d made it, but still.

“Miss Blanchard helped me make you one, and then she took me to the school store and let me buy one too!” He nodded.

Even though he wasn’t in school yet, Miss Blanchard would sometimes help him in the preschool area. Why Snow White had taken a shine to her child, Regina could not fathom. She assumed that it was another way for Snow to ruin her life, even in curse form, but there was nothing she could do about it. She would never say no to her little prince.

“That’s very sweet of you, Henry.”

He nodded, then handed her the present. “Open it!”

Regina smiled, eyes still watery, and began carefully tearing off the wrapping paper. It was clear that Henry had done that part, as it was terrible, but she loved it even more.

When she opened the box, it wss filled with some of her favorite things – at least, the ones that could be found in the school store. There was chocolate, and a book, and pencils. Most importantly, though, was the book that Henry had made her.

She took it out the box, handling it as if the object was glass. To her, it was much more precious. She opened it, then started to look through it. There were no words, only pictures. They were all of what she knew were supposed to be the two of them, and Regina loved it.

“This is amazing, my prince. I love it.” Regina opened her arms for him to come to her, a watery smile on her lips.

He ran into her arms, grinning widely. “I love you, Mommy!” He said.

Regina wrapped her arms around her son tightly, wishing more than anything that she would never have to let him go. The love she felt for him was indescribable. She wished that she would never have to let him go.

But, alas, she did. She was the first to let go, actually, a smile on her lips. “Why don’t you open your presents, Henry? There’s another secret one upstairs, but you have to open all the others first!”

His face lit up at having been given permission to open his presents. Immediately, Henry ran over to the Christmas tree and picked out his first present. It was a small one, and Regina wasn’t surprised. He’d done the same at his birthday, opening the smallest presents first so that he could lead up to the biggest one.

As Henry opened his presents, grinning the whole time, Regina snapped pictures with her camera and smiled. She was dreading the idea of her son growing up (possibly to hate her), but she was also loving it. There was nothing in the world that Regina enjoyed more than watching Henry grow and learn new things.

The boy was oblivious to the fact that he was being photographed, and soon all of his presents were opened. “This is the best Christmas ever, Mommy!” He exclaimed, the same way he did on every holiday. He’d done it since he was able to talk, and Regina always loved it. Knowing that she wasn’t completely screwing up his life was something that she desperately needed.

“It’s not over yet,” Regina told him with a smile. He still had one more present to open, then they would be able to make breakfast and cookies the way they always did. They’d done it since he was only an infant, and Regina had no intention of stopping yet. “You still have one more present.”

Henry grinned, clearly having forgot about his secret present in the chaos of opening all of the others. It was obvious that the boy was eager to play with all of his new toys, but the idea of a secret won out, and he stood. “Where is it?” He asked excitedly.

“Upstairs,” Regina told him.

Together, they walked up the steps, little Henry bouncing on his feet as he awaited his especially surprising gift.

“It’s in the bathroom,” she said, and Henry ran in there.

The moment he opened the door, she heard tiny little scratches against her floor. If it hadn’t been Christmas, if Henry hadn’t chosen that exact moment to scream with joy, Regina might have minded the fact that her perfect floor was behind scratched by little puppy claws. But it was Christmas, and Henry was screaming with joy, and how could she really be mad about anything just then?

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to send me a prompt, leave it in the comments or on my Twitter account, @WhitcKnight. I promise that I don't bite.


End file.
